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Hyderabad: It is raining promises in Andhra Pradesh ahead of by-elections from four Lok Sabha and 18 assembly constituencies in the state next month. In his bid to woo voters, Telugu Desam Party chief N. Chandrababu Naidu has now promised free cooking gas connections to the poor.
The promise by Leader of the Opposition comes months before Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) begins gas supply from the Krishna Godavari basin off Kakinada. RIL officials have informed the state government that the company would begin gas supply from June.
Ongoing journey
Addressing public meetings during his ongoing state-wide journey, Naidu announced that if the TDP is voted to power in next year's elections, free gas connections would be provided to the poor in urban and rural areas.
He said this would be viable as abundant gas reserves were available in the Krishna-Godavari basin. He also promised free electricity up to 50 units every month to the poor.
These are the latest in a series of promises Naidu has made in recent days, including Rs2 per kg of rice and free electricity to farmers.
Interestingly, the Congress government has been supplying free electricity to farmers for the past four years and it recently began implementing Rs2-a-kg rice scheme, which was first started by TDP founder N.T. Rama Rao in the early 1980s.
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